Re: Free Photoshop (not spam)

You have heard wrong! Adobe is absolutely not providing free copies of CS2!

What is true is that Adobe is terminating the activation servers for CS2 and that for existing licensed users of CS2 who need to reinstall their software, copies of CS2 that don't require activation but do require valid serial numbers are available.

Re: Free Photoshop (not spam)

Adobe has left the page with the downloads and the serials accessible without an account. Frankly, I suspect that Adobe has an ulterior motive here. CS2 doesn't open the RAW files of many cameras...not even my old Nikon D90. But all the Camera RAW plugins will open DNG files. So here's a way to get lots of people converting to and working in DNG.

I'm glad I found this, as I have PSE 5 and it was on the list...so I downloaded it. I'm especially glad to have discovered that the last version of Camera RAW for PSE 5 can handle D90 RAW files...so I no longer have to convert to DNG! (I bet Adobe didn't see THAT one coming!)

Re: Free Photoshop (not spam)

Originally Posted by Colin Southern

I see DNG as a blessing, not a curse. I use it exclusively even though my cameras are supported directly.

I've posted up yet another plea of the 'future developments' section of the DxO Optics forum, for it to be developed to read DNG files. The I could convert all my .CR2 files to DNG. Am doing that anyway for archiving purposes, but if DxO could read DNGs (and I know I have the option to change but I think DxO is, otherwise, an outstanding tool), then I could dump all the .CR2s.

Re: Free Photoshop (not spam)

Originally Posted by Donald

I've posted up yet another plea of the 'future developments' section of the DxO Optics forum, for it to be developed to read DNG files. The I could convert all my .CR2 files to DNG. Am doing that anyway for archiving purposes, but if DxO could read DNGs (and I know I have the option to change but I think DxO is, otherwise, an outstanding tool), then I could dump all the .CR2s.

Would be great if it happened, but I don't think it will. I tried too (years ago) -- as have zillions of others. At this point I think the issue is more political than technical.

To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if Adobe buys them at some point.

Where Adobe states that these downloads are being made available for the benefit of its customers.

"Effective December 13 2012, Adobe disabled the activation server for Creative Suite 2 products and Acrobat 7 because of a technical glitch. These products were released over seven years ago and do not run on many modern operating systems. But to ensure that any customers activating those old versions can continue to use their software, Adobe issued a serial number directly to those customers. While it could be interpreted as Adobe giving away software for free, Adobe did it to help its customers."

The only odd thing is that on that page there is a step "3" that says, "3.Sign in using your Adobe ID and download your application." However, no signing in is necessary to download. I don't know if that a technical oversight or intentional, but it's clear that Adobe's stated intent is for these apps to be downloaded by existing customers.

I'm a computer programmer, so I'm sensitive to software being taken when it's not supposed to be. Programmers gotta eat too, you know...

Re: Free Photoshop (not spam)

Why the keys? If someone has had the SW since new, they're not likely to have lost their key. If they did, it's a couple of emails to sort it out. He does say "the old activation server developed problems & had to be retired" which is very strange - Adobe cannot maintain/back up a server? I think not...

Adobe don't seem to have made a loud, unequivocal statement either way, so I think that Graystar's comment "I suspect that Adobe has an ulterior motive here" is on the money - it would be very hard for somebody just starting out in photography to justify a piece of software costing more than their camera. All the alternatives are (much) cheaper, and get people used to other developers' ways of doing things. Giving obsolete software away would help to stifle competition.